Stapling-machine.



W. E. ELLIS.

STAPLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-3.1915- Patented Apr.16,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Z 1 J w-MM W. E; ELLIS.

STAPLING MACHINE. APPLICATION man SEPT. 3. 1915.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- jwe iaw W. 5. 2w, r 21%- WW,

W. E. ELLIS.

STAPLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1915.

- Patented A r. 16, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

" ZQ/AML/QJL, I

llNlT prion STAPLING-MACHINE.

Application filed September 3, 1915. Serial No. 48,913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VARREN E. ELLIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in stapling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for forming staples from a continuous length of wire and driving them into the articles to be stapled, and includes various features of-construction and arrangement whereby the stapling operation can be performed very rapidly and the staple can be accurately located in the work. These and other featuresof my invention render the. machine particularly suitable for attaching bows and other ornaments to shoe uppers, and the specific machine hereinafter described is primarily intended for this purpose but it can be used without substantial modification for stapling other kinds of work, and various parts of the machine can be employed to advantage in stapling forming and driving machines generally.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the machine as preferably constructed for attaching bows to shoe uppers,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine, with certain parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a detail view illustrating a looking device hereinafter described;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the machine as Viewed from the right,

the plane of section being indicated by the line aa in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the wire feeding device in side elevation;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the lower portion of the staple-forming slide, showing the wire cutter attached thereto;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on the line 7)Z) in Fig. 3, showing the staple forming and driving mechanism on a larger scale;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 0-0 in Fig. 6, showing the lower portion of said mechanism as viewed from the right;

Fig. 8 is an isometric perspective view showing the staple forming and driving slides and their relation to the work when in the position of rest;

Fig. 9 is a detail view showing one form of staple-clenching block;

Fig. 10 is an isometric perspective view of the staple-driving slide and certain parts carried thereby;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

plan view of the anvil shown ards 3 and 1 extending upward at the sides of the base and connected at a distance above the latter by a cross bar 5.. The frame thus provides an open space extending from front to back and adapted to receive the rear portion of a shoe to which a bow or other ornament is to be stapled. During the stapling operation the toe of the shoe points forward and the top of the upper rests upon a clenching block 6, which is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 as carried by and extending forwardly from the front end of a horizontal arm 7 bolted at its upwardly extending rear end to the rear face of the cross bar 5.

In the upper ends of the standards 3 and in'which 10 indicates a collar fast on the shaft 8 and encircled by an annular flange 11 carried by the belt pulley 9 and provided on its inner face with a number of recesses 12, any one of which is adapted to receive a radially-movable clutch member 13 carried by the collar 10 and pressed outward by a spring 14. When the machine is at rest the clutch member 13 rests at its outer end on the upper edge of a fin l5 and is thereby Ournaled a transversely-extending v shaft v8 adapted to be driven by a belt pulley pressed inward and held out of engagement with the flange 11, so that the belt pulley turns freely, said fin 15 being carried by a short horizontal shaft 16 extending from front to back beneath the collar 10. To start the machine said shaft 16 is rocked sufficiently to withdraw the upper edge of the fin from under the clutch member 13, whereupon the latter is forced by its spring 14 into one of the recesses 12 and is engaged by the radial rear face of the recess, thus causing the shaft 8 to rotate. The fin 15 is immediately returned to its normal. or vertical position as hereinafter explained, and when it is reached by the clutch member 13 the latter rides upward on the slanting upper edge of the fin, which acts as a cam to force the clutch member out of engagement with the flange 11. At the upper end of its slanting upper edge the fin 15 is provided with a aositive stop 17, which definitely locates the shaft 8 in the predetermined position. of'rest, and in order to avoid excessive shock in stopping the shaft and connected parts the opposite end of said shaft is preferably provided with a friction device such as an adjustable band brake 18 of familiar construction.

The fin 15 is rocked and the clutch tripped by means of a lever 19 pivoted to a fixed rearwardly-extending arm 20 and provided at its free end with a finger 21 so located that when moved downward it engages a. lug 22 on an arm 23 projecting laterally from the shaft 16 which carries the fin, and

after the fin has been rocked sufficiently to trip the clutch, said finger 21 slides off the lug 22, whereupon the fin is immediately restored to its vertical position by a spring 2 1- operating on the arm 23. The finger 21 is pivoted to the lever 19 and its rear end is normally held'by a spring 25 against a stop pin 26 located beneath it, so that said finger is efiective to operate the fin when the lever 19 moves downward, but can turn on its pivot sulficiently to let it pass the lug 22 when said lever moves upward. lhis lever is operated by means of a rod 27 connected to a treadle (not shown) or other.

suitable device within the control of the operator, and is limited in its upward and downward movements by stop pins 28 and 29, carried by it and adapted respectively to engage the upper and lower edges of the arm 20, said lever being normally held in its uppermost position shown in 11.

In order that the clutch maybe positively locked when desired, so that it cannot be tripped unintentionally I provide a safety device consisting of a laterally-extending arm 30 secured to the front end of the shaft 16, where it is conveniently accessible to the operator, and provided with a springpressed pin 31 adapted to enter a recess 32 in the support for the shaft 16 (Fig. 2) and thereby lock said shaft against being rocked. At its outer end the pin 31 is provided with a small cross pin 33 which enters notches 3st I a staple-forming anvil 36 and a staple-driv ed by an extension 38 projecting forwardly and laterally from the standard 3 and carrying at its outer end a fixed guide 89 in which the slide 35 is movable vertically. The slide 3'? is movable vertically in and is guided by the slide 35, and carries a staple-driving blade 10 which is located in a guide way formed in the lower portion of said slide 35 and extending downward to the lower end of the latter, said blade being located directly over the staple-clenching recesses &1 in the top of the block 6. The width of the blade lO extends from front to back with reference to the machine as a whole, and is substantially equal to the outside width of a formed staple. The lower portion of the slide 35 also has its width extending from front to back and is preferably made mg slide 37, all of which parts are support-V a thin as is practicable, for reasons hereinafter explained, the driving blade 10 being located about midway between its outer and inner faces. ln its lower end is-formed an upwardly-extending recess 42 which passes through. the slide in a transverse direction and has a width from front to back equal to the inside width of the staple, that is, the distance between its legs. The staple-forming anvil 36, which has the same width as the recess 12, is carried by the front end of a laterallyinovable horizontal pin 13, whereby it can be projected beneath the lower ends of the slide 35 and blade lO when the latter are elevated, or withdrawn to the rear side of the same. "W hen in the former position it is located directly under said re cess 42.

The staples are, formed successively from a single length of wire id, of which a sup ply is carried in the form of a coil by a reel 3:5 located in the rear of the parts above described. From this reel the wire extends forward to a feeding device, where it passes first over a supporting block 46 secured to a rearwardly-extending fixed rod 4:7 and provided with a groove in its wire-supporting surface to receive and guide the wire, as shown in Fig. l. After leaving the plate so the wire passes over another supporting block 48 of similar construction and arangement, except that instead of being fast on the rod l? it is slidable longitudinally along it. This block 48 is provided with a spring-actuated pivoted finger as vso arranged that its lower end grips the wire and carries it with the block when the latter moves forward but releases the wire when the block moves back 'ard, while a similar springeactuated finger 50 pivoted to the block d6 serves to grip the wire and hold it against backward movement when the block iS moves backward, but permits the wire to be drawn forward by said block 48.

The block 48 is moved in the forward di- 0 receives a pin 54: secured to said block 18,

as shown in Fig. 3, the block being moved in the opposite direction by a spring 55 connected to the arm 53. The backward movement of the block 18 is limited by an adjustable stop 56, whereby the range of movement of said block can be accurately regulated in such manner that just enough wire to form a single staple of a given slze Wlll be fed forward on each reciprocation of I the block. In order to avoid any possibility of withdrawal of the wire which has been fed forward by the block 48, I prefer to provide means for positively operating the finger 49 in the wire-releasing direction after said block 48 has reached the limit of its forward movement, and for this purpose I employ a lever 57 pivotally mounted on the arm 53 in such position that its lower end is located immediately in front of the upper end of said finger 49, the opposite or upper end of said lever being engaged by a cam 58 secured to the shaft 8 and so shaped that before the block 4L8 starts to move backward the lever 57 is rocked on its pivot and caused to move the upper end of the finger 49 backward, thereby freeing its lower end from engagement with the wire.

After leaving the block 48 the wire passes horizontally through a perforation 59 formed in the guide 39, from which when fed forward it emerges on the front side at a point which brings it directly beneath the lower end of the blade 40 and over the staple-forming anvil 36, the slides 35 and 37 being at this time in their uppermost position with the anvil 36 located beneath them, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. When the slide 35 begins its downward movement the projecting end of the wire is severed by a wire cutter 60 secured to the rear edge of said slide, and is immediately formed into a staple as hereinafter explained.

The wire cutter 60, which is shown in detail in Fig. 5, consists of a hardened-steel plate coiiperating at its lower end with the front end of another plate 61. carried by the guide 39 and forming the bottom of the perforation 59. Said cutter 60 has a screw and slot connection 62 with the slide 35, so that it can be adjusted vertically to take up wear as its lower end is sharpened from time to time, an adjustable wedge 63 being located between the upper end of the cutter and an abutment above it in order to insure a positive drive for the cutter, the lower end of which is prevented from moving laterally by a pin 6% located in a vertical slot therein and carried by the slide 35.

The inner or staple-driving slide 37 is positively reciprocated by means of a lever 65 pivoted at its rear end to the standard 3 and provided at its front end with a laterally-projecting pin 66 entering a horizontal slot 67 in the upper portion of said slide. The lever 65 is operated by means of a roll 68 carried thereby and located in a cam groove 69 in a cam 70 secured to the shaft 8.

The outer or staple-forming slide 35 is operated through the agency of the inner slide 37 by the following means. A latch arm 71 pivoted near its upper end to a stud 72 carried by the slide 37 is provided at its lower end with a notch 73 adapted to receive the outer edge of a projection 74 on the slide 35, so that when said latch arm 71 and projection 7st are in engagement a downward movement of the slide 37 will produce a positive downward movement of the slide 35 also. After this movement has carried the lower end of the slide 35 to within a short distance of the work, a slanting cam face 75 formed on a rearward extension of the lower end of the latch arm 71 engages a fixed abutment 76, (see Figs- 3 and 6,) whereby the continued downward movement of the slides results in forcing the lower end of the latch arm outward and disengaging it from the projection 74. The same relative position of the two slides is temporarily maintained, however, by a compressed spring 77 located between the stud 72 and the projection 74: and surrounding a guide pin 78 carried by said stud and movable downward through the projection.

' Further downward movement of the two slides brings the lower end of the outer slide 35 into engagement with the top of the work, whereupon said slide 35 stops and the inner slide 37 completes its downward or driving stroke, the spring 77 being still further compressed thereby. During the first portion of the upward movement of the inner slide 37, the slide 35 is held down by said spring 77, but as soon as the slide 37 has moved upward far enough to permit the engagement of the latch arm 71 and the projection 74 the upper end of said slide strikes a fixed stop 79 carried by the slide 35 at its upper end, and thereafter the two slides move upward together until they reach their uppermost position. During this movement the cam face 7 5 moves out of engagement with the abutment 76, and thereupon the latch arm 71 is caused to engage the projection 74 by a spring 80 acting on said latch arm, thus restoring the parts to the proper relative position for the next downward movement.

The pin 43 which carries the staple-forming anvil 36 is operated by means of an upright lever 81 which is pivoted between its ends to a fixed bracket 82 carried by the slide39 and has itslower end located in a recess in the rear end of said pin 43, as

shown in Fig. 1. The upper'end of said lever 81, which preferably consists of a hardened steel piece 83, is so shaped that just beforethe slides 35 and 37 reach their uppermost position, and after their lower ends pass above the anvil 36, the upper end of the slide 35 strikes the piece 83 and rocks the lever 81 in such direction as'to project said anvil36'beneath the lower end of said slide 35, where it is held by the engagement of the upper end of the lever with the rear face'of the slide, as shown in Fig. 6. During the'firstpart of the downward movement'of'the slidesthe anvil 36 remains in it projected position until it has been received within therecess 42 in the lower end of the slide 35,'and thereupon the upper end of said slide passes below the piece 83 and a spring 84 operating onthe lever 81 immediately withdraws the anvil 36 from beneath said slide.

In order to avoid all danger of breakage ofthe parts, the lever "81 is preferably provided with supplementary means for posi 'tively rocking it in such direction as to withdraw the anvil 36 in case this is not side of the anvil.

done by the spring 84:. To this end a hardened steel piece 85 is secured to the rear face of the slide 35 near its lower end, and a horizontal pin 86 mounted to slide in the guide 39 is connected at its rear end to said lever 81 and is provided at its opposite end with an upwardly beveled face, which is located beneath and in the path of downward -movement of said piece 85 whenever the'anvil 36is in its projected position. As soon as the upper end of the slide 35 passes below the upper end of the lever 81 the piece 85 reaches the beveled end of the pin 86, and if said pin and the anvil 36 are not immediately withdrawn by the spring 84: said piece 85 acts as a cam on the end of the pin 86 and forces the latter outward,

thereby rocking the lever 81 suliiciently to withdraw the anvil. V

The operation of the staple-forming and driving mechanism above described 1S as follows: While the slides 35 and 37 occupy their uppermost position, shown in Figs. 6

and 7, just enough wire to form a single staple is projected by the wire-feeding mechanism and passes immediately beneath the slide 35, in line with the driving blade 40, and immediately above the slightly-rounded top of the anvil 36. lying half on one side and half on the other At the beginning of the downward movement of the two slides the projected end of the wire is severed by the wire cutter and the anvil 36 immediately enters the recess 42, therebvbending the ends of the severed plece'of wire downward against the'sides" of" the anvil to form the driven, the latch arm '71 being through the perforations 59 immediately beneath the lower end of the bladoslO, and as soon as the'staple has been formed the anvil 36 is retracted, leaving the staple frictionally held'in place by the residual spring of the wire. During-the further downward movement of the two slidesthey move together until-the slide 35 is'stopped by the engagement of its lower end with the top of the workinto which-the staple is to be disengaged from the projection 72 during the course of this movement. lhe stopping o'fthe slide 35 by the-work is immediately'followed by the completion of the downward movement of the slide 37, which carries the lowerend of the blade 40 downward to the surface of the work and thus drives the staple, the points of which areclenched by the-recesses ll in the block 6. On the upward movement of the slides the parts'operate as already explained, and before-the slides reach their uppermost position the wire-feeding device moves backward into position to feed the wire for the next staple. 1

Although the operation of the stapleforming and driving mechanism has been described with reference to the uppermost position of the slides as the starting point, in the machine as actually constructed the operation of the clutch mechanism is so timed that when the belt pulley is unclutched and the shaft ,8 is stopped said slides are not located in their uppermost position but have moved downwardto a considerable extent, and preferably their,

position of rest is that shown in Flgs. 1 and 8, in which the latch arm 71 has just been disengaged from'the projection 7 -This relative timing of the parts is one of the features of my invention, and is important for the reason that when the slides are in their position of rest their lower ends are located quite close to the top of the work, so that a very short downward movement of the slides suffices to drive the staple. As this movement requires but an instants-the effect of a highspeed machine is secured without operating any of the parts so rapidly as to subject them to excessivewear or danger of breakage, since the greater part of the cycle of the machineis devoted to forming a staple and moving the same into the position of rest. This is done while the operator is removing one piece of work and substituting another, the work being re- Another-advantage gained by causing the machine to stop with the parts in the position of rest above described is the location of the lower end of the staple-driving mech anism so closeto the top of the work that the position of the driven staple can be accurately judged by the eye of the operator. Still another advantage, in case the machine is used for stapling bows to shoes, results from the fact that the end of the bow body, when turned upward to expose the attaching strip through which the staple is driven, can be allowed to rest against the rear face of said slide and therefore does not have to be held out of the way by the operator while the staple isbeing driven. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 8, which shows a shoe 87 held with the top of the upper resting on the block 6 and a how 88 held in stapling position on the top of the shoe by the operator, with one end of the bow body turned upward and resting against the rear face of the slide 35, thus leaving the attaching strip 89 exposed beneath the slide. In this way the danger of accidents such as the striking of the thumb or finger of the operator by the downwardly-moving parts is avoided. The thinness of the outer slide 35 in a transverse direction is also useful in that it enables a staple to be driven close to the central portion of a bow, and this is particularly desirable when a bow having no attaching strip is to be stapled to a shoe, since in such case the staple has to be driven through the top of the bow body beneath but closely adjacent to the outer edge of the central band of the bow while the band is temporarily turned upward.

The construction above described is such that the plane of the staple thereby driven into a shoe extends in the direction of the length of the shoe, but as it is sometimes desirable to drive a staple extending in a plane at right angles to the length of the shoe I prefer to make the block 6 detachable from the arm 7 and to provide a supplementary arm 90 (Figs. 1 and 3) secured to the standard 3 and extending laterally therefrom to such position that a similar block can be detachablv secured to its front end, with the length of the block extending transversely beneath the slides .in the proper position. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate another form of detachable block 6 having a hinged top plate 91 which is normally pressed upward by a spring 92 and thus serves to hold the work directly against the lower end of the slide 35 when the work is applied to the block and positioned for driving a staple. During the driving operation the plate 91 moves downward with the work until it rests upon and is rigidly supported by the lower part of the block, whereupon the staple is driven and its points are clenched by the recesses 93 in said plate. This a! rangement enables the work to be positioned very accurately with respect to the location of the staple therein. I

The several clenching blocks employed are each provided with a stem 94 adapted to enter and fit the hollow end of either of the arms 7 and 90, in which it is prevented from turning by a pin 95 entering a recess 96 in the rear end of the block. The clenching blocks of whatever form which are to be applied to the arm 90 are provided with staple-clenching recesses extending transversely of the block, as shown in Fig. 13, instead of lengthwise of the block as shown in Fig. 9, but otherwise the various clenching blocks are interchangeable. If the work into which the staple is to be driven is otherwise rigidly supported, no block need be employed in case it is not required to clench the staple, or in case the work itself contains means for clenching the staple points. In suchcase the removal of the detachable block provides a suiiiheld therein, and means for automatically disconnecting the power from said slide after its lower end has been projected into view in a position adjacent to the work and prior to the driving of the staple.

2. In a stapling machine, the combination of a fixed guide, a staple-forming slide ar ranged to reciprocate therein and having a relatively thin lower end adapted to engage.

the work, a staple-driving slide arranged to reciprocate in the staple-forming slide, means cooperating with the staple-forming slide for forming a staple and leaving it in the lower end of the slide, power-driven mechanism for reciprocating said slides, and means for automatically disconnecting the power therefrom after a staple has been formed and prior to the driving of the same,

and after the lower end of the forming slide.

has been projected into View below its guide in a position adjacent to the work.

3. In a stapling machine, the combination of a' fixed guide, a staple-forming slide arranged to reciprocate therein and having a recess extending transversely through its lower end, means cooperating with said re-,

cess for forming a staple and leaving it therein, a staple-driving slide arranged to reciprocate in the forming slide, powerdriven means for operating the staple-formmg and dr'ving slides and s for automatically disconnecting the power therefrom after a staple has been formed and the lower end of the forming'slide has moved downward below its guide into, a position adjacent to the work, with the staple exposed tov view in said recess.

a. In a stapling machine, the combination of a staple-forming slide, a staple-driving slide, poiendriven mechanism for reciprocating the latter slide, means for connecting the two slides during the staple-forming movement, means for disconnecting said slides prior to the staple-driving movement, and means for automatically disconnecting the power from the driving slide after the forming slide has carried the formed staple into a position adjacent to. the work.

5,. In a stapling machine, the combination of a staple-forming slide, a staple-driving slide, a latch for positively connecting the two slides during the staple-forming movement, a spring for maintaining the two slides. in their latch-engaging position until the staple-forming slide is arrested by the work, a power-driven shaft and means carried thereby for reciprocating the stapledriving slide, means for automatically stopping said shaft after said slides have per formed a portion of their movement toward the, work, and means operative during such movement for unlatehing the two slides.

6,. In a stapling machine, the combination of an upright guide, a staple forming slide arranged to reciprocate therein, means cooperating with said slide for forming a staple and holding it in the lower end of the slide, a staple-driving slide arranged to reciprocate in the forming slide, a latch for connecting the two slides during the stapleforming movement, meansfor tripping said latch prior to the engagement of the form-v ing slide with the work, a spring tending to maintain the two slides in their latch-engaging position, power-operated means for positively reciprocating the driving slide, and means for automatically disconnecting the power from the latter slide after said latch has been tripped and prior to the driving of the staple.

7 In a stapling machine, the combination of an upright guide, a staple-forming slide arranged to reciprocate therein and having a relatively thin lower end, means cooperating with said slide for forming a staple and holding it in the lower end of the slide, a staple-driving slide arranged to reciprocate in the forming slide, power-operated means Copier of; this patent may be obtained for for positively reciprocating the driving slide, a latch for connecting the two slides during the staple-forming movement, a nor mally-compressed spring tending to maintain the two slides in their latch-engaging position, means for tripping said latch prior to the engagement of the forming slide with the work, and means for automatically disconnecting the power from the driving slide after the lower end of the forming slide has. been projected into view below its guide in a position adj accnt t0 the work.

8,. In a stapling machine, the combination with stapledriving mechanism and a frame supporting the same and providing an open space beneath saidinechanism for the recep tion of the work, of supporting arms extending, respectively, forwardly and laterally from said frame, and each terminating at a point adjacent to one side of the stapledriving mechanism, each of said arms being adapted to receive a detachable clenching block and position the same beneath the staple-driving mechanism.

9'. In a stapling machine, the combination with staple-forming and driving mechanism of a wire-feedingdevice comprising a movable slide adapted to carry thewire, a power-driven shaft and connections between the same and the slide for operating the latter, a gripping finger carried by the slide and arranged to clamp the wire thereto during the forward movement thereof, and means operated by said shaft for positively disengaging said finger from' the wire while the slide is at rest.

10. In a stapling machine, the combina-v tion of a staple-forming slide having a staple-receiving recess in its lower end, means for reciprocating said slide, a stapleforming anvil and means for moving it into said recess, means for presenting between the top of the anvil and the bottom of the slide sufiicient wire to. form a staple, a spring for withdrawing said anvil from the recess after the staple has been formed, and supplementary means positively operated by the forming slide for insuring the. withdrawal of said anvil.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this second day of September, 1915.

WARREN E. ELLIS.

i Witnesses:

E. D. CHADWICK, Josnrn T. BRENNAN.

five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

